Lanner confirms speaker line up prior to exclusive two-day customer event, WITNESS User Conference Americas 2011, this August 22 and 23.

Houston, TX -- (SBWire) -- 08/17/2011 --The nation's economy has forced radical changes in business practices since the start of the recession and leading firms have sought new and innovative ways to conserve budgets through the adoption of simulation modeling to reduce waste and improve performance. Business leaders attending WITNESS User Conference Americas - presented by Lanner in association with 3M - may pick up sage advice on process optimization in a turbulent economy this coming August 22 and 23.

Held at lead sponsor 3M's Tartan Park conference facility, Lake Elmo, MN, the event's first day will begin with Dan Nottestad, Supply Chain Specialist for 3M, discussing the importance of input data collection, cleansing, and manipulation for efficiently and accurately modeling system behavior within the automotive industry.

D'Artis Jones, Integrated Logistics Design Manager at Exel, will then follow on with a presentation discussing the strategy and modeling required to improve the throughput at an already highly effective, but complex, distribution center.

Starting the afternoon session will be Erin Murphy, Engineering Specialist, 3M, who will be offering an insight into the evolution of simulation modeling usage at the manufacturing conglomerate over the last decade, she will be highlighting the diversity of nontraditional problem types addressed using WITNESS simulation modeling tools, and will be showcasing a current project.

Claire Krupp, owner and principal consultant at Simulation Analysis LLC will then be presenting a discussion on the technical aspects of WITNESS software when used in the development, and ongoing modeling, for steel production at The Timken Company. She will describe the overall process flow of one of Timken's steel plants, and some of the challenges faced as the model became larger and more complex.

The afternoon's final specialist presenter will be Dr. Jesus Jimenez from the Ingram School of Engineering at Texas State University. Texas State University is one of Lanner's academic partner institutions who use WITNESS software in taught courses and research projects. Dr. Jimenez will outline the simulation teaching and research interests at the University, including the innovative balancing of resources in the energy industry.

As well guest speaker sessions, Lanner will also be presenting over the course of the first day. The talks will include presenting Lanner's technology road map as well as showcasing recent WITNESS projects. On August 23, two mentoring sessions will also be held, presenting examples of how WITNESS can best be applied and will also act as a forum to provide feedback on the technical roadmap presented the previous day.

This exclusive customer event, presented in partnership with 3M welcomes delegates from across the Americas and features speakers from 3M, Exel, Texas State University, The Timken Company, and Lanner. For more information follow @Lanner on Twitter.